Status: 08/31/2021 2:42 p.m.
The red socks have a certain tradition in German politics. They were first used by the Union in the 1994 election campaign. Since then they have been used several times.
Since 1994 there has been a recurring fashion trend in Germany in election years. Shortly before the vote, in summer, knitted socks are hung in the shop window. Red socks.
It was invented by the then Secretary General of the CDU. Peter Hintze had election posters stuck with red socks. “To the future … but not in red socks” it said.
This was preceded by the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, where the red-green state government was tolerated by Prime Minister Reinhard Höppner from the PDS, the predecessor of the left. “Future instead of left front!” was Hintze’s motto. In the election, the PDS failed because of the five percent hurdle. Although individual PDS members moved into the Bundestag anyway, it was not enough for a red-red-green majority. Mission accomplished. In 1998 Hintze re-launched the campaign in a slightly modified form. This time it was of no use. Helmut Kohl was voted out of office. Hintze also stepped back.
Instead of red socks, CDU General Secretary Hintze presented the “Red Hands” campaign on May 25, 1998.
Image: picture-alliance / dpa
New edition in the 2009 Bundestag election campaign
At the federal level, the PDS remained weak, but in the eastern German states it was at the forefront. In 2009, the Union and the SPD, with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, had governed relatively well together for four years. But that did not stop CDU General Secretary Ronald Pofalla from literally hanging his red socks on the leash again: “And now Mr. Steinmeier says, after the general election, never with the Left Party. His statements on the left are simply untrustworthy.”
It was more difficult in 2013
Pofalla was able to calm down, his CDU ruled from then on with the FDP. Four years later, the former Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück joined the SPD. A red sock campaign in 2013 against him of all people, the conservative SPDist? Difficult. Especially since party leader Sigmar Gabriel set the line of the SPD very clearly: “There will be neither a coalition with the Left Party, nor do social democrats believe that one can send the largest economy in Europe into an uncertain situation through tolerance.”
And 2021?
Two grand coalitions later, the left in the federal government is closer to the five percent hurdle than the two-digit figure. Nevertheless, the red ghost will be around again in 2021. CSU regional group leader in the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, is one of the first reminders of the red danger in the person of Dietmar Bartsch, the left-wing top candidate. “If you choose Annalena Baerbock, you have to know that you will notice the hunchbacked relationship with Dietmar Bartsch.”
He attacks the Greens. Possibly also because they were actually considered the main political competitor, not the ailing SPD. Especially since their candidate Scholz seems to be closer to the FDP than to the left. SPD party vice-president Kevin Kühnert also points out: “Anyone who seriously believes that with Olaf Scholz – I repeat: Olaf Scholz – the communist tyranny is returning to Germany, that the one with the red flag running through the Bundestag, is a little bit Wrapped Wrong. “
Söder warns of “slipping to the left”
With the strengthening of the SPD, the Union is now focusing on Scholz. CSU leader Markus Söder is convinced that the Union should put the warning of a left alliance at the center of the final spurt of the election campaign. He also warned against a “left slide”. SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz once again made it clear that he could well imagine doing it with the left, said Söder. In addition, Scholz is only part of a team. The SPD chairman Saskia Esken, her deputy Kühnert or the Green parliamentary group leader Anton Hofreiter “don’t exactly stand for bourgeois politics”.
Laschet also tried in the TV triell to persuade the SPD candidate to clearly reject a coalition with the left. But Scholz avoided the topic. In the meantime, the outgoing Chancellor and ex-CDU leader also spoke up: “With me as Chancellor, there would never be a coalition in which the left is involved. And whether this is shared by Olaf Scholz or not remains to be seen “said Angela Merkel.
In fact, no one from the SPD has said a clear no to red-red-green, and not even from the Greens. In this respect, the Union can still wag its red socks a little until election day.